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Over the last 20 years I have developed very broad, catholic tastes in research. When I came to University of Wollongong , my primary interests were in food processing and analysis. In this lecture I will show how these initial interests have allowed me to diversify into many areas, where a multidisciplinary approach has been essential to solving problems.
Phytoestrogens are a very interesting group of bioactive plant based compounds with hormonal activity and structural similarity to endogenous estrogens. They include isoflavones from soy and other legumes, lignans from linseed and whole grains, and coumestans from clover.
Among Asian populations with a high intake of soy, epidemiological evidence has demonstrated a lower incidence of cardiovascular disease, hormone-dependent cancers of the breast and prostate, colon cancer, menopausal symptoms and osteoporosis. Thus diet, and in particular soy and its isoflavones, have been implicated as affording some protection against the development of these hormone dependent cancers and cardiovascular disease.
I will discuss a range of studies carried out in collaboration with Prof. Lee Astheimer, School of Health Sciences , and others looking at aspects of health benefits from diets containing different classes of phytoestrogens, isoflavones and lignans. In addition, I will discuss recent work looking at a rather different aspect of phytoestrogens and that is their occurrence in the environment and whether they have any deleterious effects.
The common thread in all these studies is analysis, often at low levels, and analytical chemistry.
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